The Photography of Leslie Richter

After dropping Rob and friends off at a marina in Rio Vista, I spent a little time walking around this small Sacramento River Delta town. Founded in 1858, Rio Vista has been flooded, burned to the ground and relocated. It is now a destination for boaters and fishermen with its easy access to the delta. I was draw to the old neon signs around town, and was sorry that Foster’s Bighorn wasn’t open until 10am — I missed seeing the collection of over 300 big game and wildlife “trophies.”

From here I was on my way to look for Sandhill Cranes near the Cosumnes Preserve. Unfortunately, after a beautiful sunny week, the skies had become overcast and rain was forecast for later in the day. Despite the less that favorable light, I was determined to see the cranes again – and I was not disappointed. I drove down Woodbridge Road, and although there were no cranes present at the Sandhill Crane Preserve, there were quite a few further down the road. There were many flocks scattered across the barren corn fields, and they busied themselves with foraging in the mud for grain, insects, and small vertebrates and invertebrates.

This area is rich, not only with cranes, but with many other species of birds as well. This great egret seemed to have a lot to say as it strutted along, and I was thrilled to catch this peregrine falcon on an overhead power pole.

By 3 pm the weather was beginning to deteriorate, so it was time to head home. In the distance I saw this lovely tree, full of blackbirds and one hawk. It was a good day.

The first weekend of the 2011 Corinthian Midwinter series was held on January 15-16, and was sponsored in part by my friends at Sailors for the Sea. Corinthian Yacht Club became the first SF Bay area club to implement the requirements for SfS certification of the race as a “clean regatta.”

Corinthian Yacht Club, Tiburon, CA.

Chris Mancini and Dan Pingaro of non-profit Sailors for the Sea.

Saturday brought light air, flat water, and big currents — not so good for on-the-water action photography. Sunday was a bit more lively. I was out on the water with videographer Vince Casselina, on a power boat donated and operated by club member —.

While I was prepared for the salt spray (microfiber dish towels and protective camera covers) I was not prepared for the failure of one of my favorite lenses, the Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR. Unfortunately, after shooting some test shots at the beginning of the day, I didn’t replay the photos until I returned home and began the download / editing process. Much to my horror, over half of the shots were completely over-exposed! What happened? I tested the lens on several different bodies and had the same result – it seems that the lens aperture was stuck in the wide open position. I cleaned the contacts and reseated the lens on my Nikon D7000 and everything seemed fine. On Sunday I started shooting with the same lens, and after about 10 shots I had the same problem. I also tried it on the Nikon D700 – same problem. I found that by re-seating the lens I could make it work again, but that was VERY frustrating – I was re-seating it every 10 frames or so. I’m still not entirely certain what happened, but needless to say, the camera has been sent to Nikon for service!

Shot at 1/1000 s at f/8.0, ISO 250 - this should have been a near perfect exposure!

Much to my relief, I was able to recover many of my images with Adobe Photoshop, although the post processing took much more time than normal. I’m still not pleased with the resulting unintentional high-key look of many of the images.

After post processing with Adobe Bridge and Photoshop CS5 - not great but good enough for the online photo gallery.

The Cosumnes River Preserve, located off I-5 between Sacramento and Stockton, comprises 46,000 acres along the Cosumnes River. According to the Preserve web site, “It is the only remaining unregulated river on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. In its lower reaches, it flows through one of the biologically richest regions in California’s Central Valley, before merging with the Mokelumne River to flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and eventually the Pacific Ocean.”

So why did I plan to go the the Preserve in the middle of January? Migratory birds – specifically the majestic Sand Hill Cranes. Although much of the park was flooded, and walking trails closed, there were still many cranes to be found in the neighboring rice fields. I arrived late in the afternoon when the birds fly back to the fields for the night. However the first bird I stopped for was hovering over the rice fields – and then it landed on a road-side tree.

White-tailed kite.

Once I arrived at the rice field, I was treated to quite a show!

A courting dance or territorial dispute?

Coming home to roost.

Into the sunset.

The following morning I once again rose early with plans to get back to the field to photograph the cranes as they were flying out for the day. However, the Tule fog once again interfered with my plans.

I was very lucky to have had a solid day of sunshine at SNWR, because the next morning I awoke with good intentions to photograph the birds at sunrise, only to find that the dense Tule fog had enveloped the region overnight. It was my last day in the area, and the forecast was for some clearing after noon, so I waited and watched birds that were too far into the fog to see clearly. Still, it was beautiful, and the fog presented different photographic opportunities.

Surprisingly, the snow geese were gone!

Two great horned owls in the fog.

A foggy pheasant.

Black-crowned Night Heron at the Colusa NWR.

During this short road trip the sound of gun shots constantly reminded me that birders, photographers, and nature lovers were not alone in their love of this area. It is also duck hunting season.

As you can see, 2010 was a lost year for this blog, and for the most part, for my photographic pursuits. I was tackling a more important job — taking care of my husband, Rob, who had been diagnosed in late 2009 with Stage IV lung cancer. As he was a never smoker, this diagnosis, and the initial nine-months-to-live prognosis were devastating. After a year of various chemo treatments, cancer shrinkage and then renewed progression, Rob is now enrolled in a clinical trial for a very promising new drug at Stanford. Our lives are getting back into a more normal routine as we wait to see if the drug works, and I have had a bit more time to get back to work photographically!